Despite his past concerns about the viability of cricket in the region, newly appointed Cricket West Indies (CWI) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chris Dehring believes the contribution of territorial boards will be crucial in the successful development of the regional game.

The noted Jamaican businessman and sports executive takes office at CWI next month after being selected by the board from a pool of over 50 candidates internationally.

There are currently six territorial boards that fall under the Windies umbrella, namely the Jamaica Cricket Association, Barbados Cricket Association, Guyana Cricket Board, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB), and Windward Island Cricket Board.

Prior to his appointment, Dehring, on different platforms, suggested that individual countries from the Caribbean compete on the international stage on their own due to the decline of West Indies cricket, with the Test and One-Day International teams, especially, struggling for over three decades.

Dehring told the Jamaica Observer that high-level planning will be needed to raise the standards of the individual territories to boost the Windies product.

“We need to explore, unemotionally, every potential avenue to generate resources and one of the key resources we have, probably the most tangible of intangible resources, is national pride. The challenge you have with West Indies cricket that there’s no [single] nation behind it, so you’re trying to get all the individual nations cheering and pulling behind a brand that isn’t necessarily their own so you have to try to make sure they think of it as their own, even while they’re investing their national resources into their own national team,” he said.

Dehring, who served as CEO for the ICC 50-over World Cup in 2007 in the Caribbean, says the talent that exists in the territories, such as Jamaica, makes investing a worthwhile effort.

“That is probably the most challenging aspect of West Indies cricket; how do you get national teams being prepared, resourced and so on at the individual level so that West Indies cricket, in the end, is just picking off the production line the top sheets of metal and forging them into the West Indies team,” he said.

“The core really is the individual territorial board and territorial level so we have to just explore option available to us to do that, whether it be the types of competitions that the individual countries play in, how we do we mobilise governments to help us, the school system, etc, but everything has to be on the table and examine unemotionally. As much we love West Indies cricket, we need to see how we make sure individual countries are also strong.”

While CWI will do their part, Dehring believes countries should follow Guyana’s example in an attempt to improve their financial power and expose more players to international cricket.

“The Guyanese Government has pumped in a significant amount of resources into Guyanese cricket in hosting the Global Super League and how it supported the Guyana Amazon Warriors. That is because the brand that is participating in the global super league is the Guyana Amazon Warriors. I don’t believe they would pump that kind of money if it was the West Indies Amazon Warriors,” he said.

“Essentially and eventually, that type of investment of the Government in Guyanese cricket redounds to the benefit of West Indies cricket so that’s the perfect example of what I’ve been trying to explain about how do weather through some international competition and so on. These are all conceptual ideas that I believe collectively as a region we explore.”

Chris Dehring

Jamaica Scorpions batsman Javelle Glenn (right) hits the ball as Leeward Islands Hurricanes wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton reacts during the Super50 semi-final match at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday, November 21, 2024. Photo: CWI Media